


ah, god a life is here

by Fullmetalruby



Category: Naruto
Genre: Children of Characters, Dialogue-Only, sasuke boinked someone and theres a kid now i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 16:25:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16538099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fullmetalruby/pseuds/Fullmetalruby
Summary: Prompt: Cursed; SpiritSasuke tells his daughter a bedtime story, and she has some things to say.





	ah, god a life is here

**Author's Note:**

> Ah God! A life is here  
> Simple and fair  
> Murmurs of strife are here  
> Lost in the air  
> \- "The Sky Above The Roof", Paul Verlaine (trans. Mabel Dearmer)
> 
> written for the sumigakure halloween challenge 2018 on tumblr

Once upon a time--

_ That’s a terrible way to start a story, Papa. Try again. _

A long time ago, before your grandfathers were born--

_ Ugh _ .

Well, I only know so many ways to start a story. Do you want to hear it or do you want to go to bed without a story tonight?

_ Whatever. Cliche story beginnings aside, continue _ .

When I was your age, my mother used to tuck me into bed and tell me about how we got our eyes.

_ We’re born with them, duh. How else? _

Just let me talk. Please.

Okay. Where were we?

When the world was still new and the people were just starting to form different clans, it’s said each of the different, budding clans were picked by a spirit. Now, these spirits would protect the clan from harm, and in return the clan would give offerings and prayers to the spirit.

Our clan was picked by a very powerful fire spirit. Don’t ask me the name. I never knew it, and I don’t think your grandmother did either. If anyone in our clan ever really knew the spirit’s name, no-one  ever told me.

This spirit offered us a special bond with fire, and with the very nature of heat and light. 

_ Is that why we’re so good at genjustu, Papa? _

Yes. That was a part of the fire that the spirit gave us, and the fire manifested in our eyes.

Fire used to mean more, back then. When someone offered you fire, they offered the heat to sleep by, the light to see with, and the protection of everyone else around the fire. They were offering you the heat of their bodies and the flame in their hearts.

_ But our hearts are made of muscle, Mom said so. _

Look, it’s not heart in a literal sense, it’s-- do you know what ‘metaphorical’ means yet?

_ Do I look like an idiot to you? _

Are you sure you want me to answer that?

_ No. Go on with the story _ .

Thank you.

So, anyways, when we offered fire, we were offering all sorts of stuff. As previously listed. I’m assuming I don’t need to go over it again.

“Be wary of how you use this gift. Fire is the element of love, and of protection. Do not use this power for evil,” the spirit told us.

Our clan got very good at wielding this fire. We could craft genjutsu like no other, and I mean that literally. Our forefathers used to do genjutsu differently from other clans. Instead of entering the mind, we made mirages in the air.

At first, it was just for entertainment purposes. We used it to share dreams and memories with each other, and to teach. It was a tool for a good purpose. And it was for self-defense.

We got too good at that. We started using our gift to hurt people. We showed them images of their loved ones dead before them.  We stopped offering wanderers a place around our fires. Our patron spirit became very angry with us.

“Fire is the element of the soul. To wield fire is to protect, and to be kind. I see that I have been remiss in giving this power to you, Clan, and so it seems I must restrict this power in you,” the spirit said to us.

And the spirit knew that, try as they might, they wouldn’t be able to take the power from us, they could change how it manifested. And so, they made it Be so that we couldn’t use this power until we had experienced a great personal loss ourselves, as punishment for how we had used it against our enemies.

_ So that’s why we have to hurt to use our eyes? _

Yes, it is.

_ How did you get your eyes? _

That’s a story for a different night, I think. 

_ Can you tell me that one tomorrow?  _

How about we finish this one before we start thinking about tomorrow?

_ Okay. _

Okay. Where were we again?

_ Punishment, Papa. _

Right.

_ Wait. _

What?

_ Did everyone in the clan use their fire for bad things? _

No, not everyone. But everyone was punished anyways.

_ That’s not fair at all! That’s like when sensei takes away recess for all of us because Komi was being loud during class. _

It’s a way to control large groups. If you punish people who did nothing wrong, then the people who were doing bad things are less likely to keep doing them because they’re not the only ones affected by their actions.

Can I go on with the story now?

_ Yep. _

Okay then.

Even though we had been punished for our cruelty, we continued to hurt others with our eyes, and we found ways of making our eyes more powerful. We learned-- and don’t tell your mom I told you this-- that we could become stronger by trading eyes with each other.

_ Trading eyes? How does that even work? _

I’ll tell you when you’re older.

And the fire spirit became angry with us again, and for a third time they came to us and punished us.

“You have been warned thrice now of this power. I will not stand for this again. I leave you with this final curse, Clan, and you will hear from me no more.

May you trade eyes until there’s nothing left of you, but every time you do, your children will become weaker. May you all cough the blood you have spilt and lose the control you so carelessly took from others. If you are wise, you will not use this power again.”

And then the spirit left us, and cursed us with this sickness.

_ Your sickness, Papa? _

Yes. My sickness. My mother’s father traded eyes, and so did my brother and my uncle. It’s the kind of sickness the whole family gets.

_ Mom said all we have to do to keep that kind of sick contained is to not cough on each other and make sure to clean the doorknobs. _

Different kind of sick.

This kind is passed on through the blood. You can’t get it by being coughed on. If someone in your family has it, there’s a chance you’ll have it too. My mother and brother both had it, and I have it, and there’s a good chance you’ll have it too.

_ … _

_ That’s a sad story, Papa. _

I’m sorry, Mikoto. I’ll try to find a happier one for tomorrow.

I love you.

_ I love you too. _

**Author's Note:**

> i just needed a vehicle to write this story and ive had this picture of sasuke with a little girl in my head for a long time. sumigakure just gave me a reason to finally do it.  
> also, sasuke's "sickness" is the same sickness that killed itachi, which i interpret as a congenital disease in the uchiha clan, which fucks with the chakra pathways  
> hmu at fulmetalruby on tumblr


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